


Nearly ashes on the ground

by SpectralCommentator



Category: 999: Nine Persons Nine Hours Nine Doors, Homestuck, Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, No knowledge of 999 either come to think of it, No knowledge of homestuck necessary, Not Vlr or Ztd compliant, got a lot of cheeky little hidden bullshit, more tags and characters will be added as the story progresses, we are anti-knowledge here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:00:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27483889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpectralCommentator/pseuds/SpectralCommentator
Summary: Under mysterious circumstances, 5 people find themselves playing a game for the survival of not just themselves, but the universe at whole.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Nearly ashes on the ground

The day the world ends is, somehow, marked more by inconvenience than anything. The sky is blue, though not cloudless, and cars whiz past on long stretches of black pavement, a constant whir of noise and activity that blurs into near silence after so long in its midst. Everything was moving, each step down the sidewalk mirrored by a dozen other bodies all at the centre of their own worlds.

Among the swarm of people was a young man, travelling down the sidewalk with haste. He bobbed and weaved around the crowd with a single minded determination, half jogging in an attempt to get to his destination faster.

Junpei was, at the moment, making his way back to his apartment after a long day of class. He kept his right arm cradled tightly against his chest, and made sure to avoid jostling it as much as possible. A few minutes ago he had held a cup of coffee. Now, there's a burning pain covering half his forearm.

He knows the path by heart, and has for a long time, but it seems to take a short eternity to reach the small building he resides in, even though in reality it couldn't have taken more than 5 minutes. He makes his way up the stairs after taking a glance at the elevator and noticing its in use, knowing he could make it to the third floor before it returned. Quickly, he darts up the stairs, keeping half an eye on his feet as he careened upward. The three flights go past in a haze and soon, finally, he is standing on his floor.

Surrounded by an empty hallway, Junpei makes his way home, giving himself a second to catch his breath as his body realises he had just run more than he had in months. But the burn on his arm soon outweighs the burning in his lungs, and with a last heavy exhale he reaches into his pockets and removes his keys.

The sun shines down, for the last time, over the tall buildings and lively streets. 

He opens the door, stepping into his apartment. With a low curse he tosses his bag to the floor and beelines towards the bathroom, removing first his windbreaker, then his sweater. Each tug of the fabric seems to catch on the burn and he grits his teeth, slamming open the bathroom door. His hand reaches out and turns on the sink, letting the cool water flow.

Half instinctively, he raises his right hand to unbutton his flannel, wincing as the sudden movement sends another wave of pain up his arm. He dropped it back down to his side and started again with his left, clumsily removing the shirt altogether. The stained article of clothing hits the ground and not a second later he has his arm underneath the stream of water, relaxing as the pain starts to fade.

With a wince he looks over the damage. A wide patch of skin blooms an angry pink, and there's a puffiness to the affected area that he knows isn't normal, but to his untrained eyes, the damage seems superficial. In other news, he thinks to himself, after another moment of narrow-eyed concentration, he’ll live.

Carefully he pulls his arm back from the water, and the pain hits almost immediately. Junpei quickly shoves it back. Distantly, he can hear the sound of his phone buzzing, an almost unfamiliar sound that perks his attention. It hums only once, a text, and then falls silent. Reluctantly, he moved from the sink, feeling the heat start to return as he stepped out into the hallway and eyed up his bag. He didn't… people didn't text him. Not really. 

He nudged the bag with his foot, considering, then tried to open it without bending down. The fabric shifted against his shoe, but was, of course, zipped shut. Junpei grumbled as he sunk down to open it, leafing through scraps of paper and notes until he found his mobile at the bottom of the bag. The screen was blank.

“Fucking- ugh” he groaned, rising back to his feet. Nothing. He must've just been hearing things. With another huff of air he spun on his heel, heading back towards the sweet, relieving water when-

The phone buzzed. This time, he heard it clear as day. 

His footsteps came to a halt, and he glanced over his shoulder at the device. It was still sitting there, no notification on the screen, completely dark, and yet before his eyes he saw it shake again, and again. Slowly he turned, walking back towards the bag. In the back of his mind he felt unease stirring, but brushed it off and scooped up his phone a second time. The screen was, again, black, but this time he tapped the glass, watching it light up.

The lock screen, a picture of himself and his mother, had changed. Instead there was a deep blue gear, and a box of black text. Words started to spread across it the instant the phone was opened, but after a second settled into a single word.

AKANE.  


The text was dark, and difficult to make out, but there was no mistaking it. Junpei's finger had settled on the power button the moment he had noticed the changes on the screen, and hesitated as he stared down at the name. A hundred scenarios flashed through his brain in a flash, each one more unlikely and unsettling then the last. Had he been hacked? Was this some sort of prank? Had Akane died, and decided to haunt his phone?

Because he knew that name. How could he forget? He hadn't had many friendships growing up, and definitely none as memorable as the one he shared with her.

Without conscious thought, he unlocked the phone.

His home screen seemed normal at first glance, the background photo was the same and none of the apps appeared to have been moved or edited. He swiped the screen first left, frowning down at the device, then right, where he saw a small, dark box. His finger hovered over it for a second, as he debated whether or not he should open it.

“...Fuck it,” he muttered, tapping the app. “I've already been hacked.” As soon as he touched the glass, the screen went white. He grimaced, then tapped it again. To his surprise, on the second touch the white vanished, leaving behind what looked like an old messaging site. There was a yellow banner around the edges of the screen, with a text box at the bottom and a friends list along the side. Raising an eyebrow, Junpei opened the sidebar, squinting down at the four names printed in a neat font.

SnakeEyes, SantaClause, CloverField, JuneRain.

The usernames were greyed out, offline? Whatever the case, he wasn't able to interact with them, as tapping the names yielded no result. The app didn't seem to have much other than that list of names, but when he touched the text box his keyboard popped up. There was no indication of a recipient, though when he typed out a simple A key a send icon appeared. He frowned, considering.

It really would be better to turn off the phone now, and take it to a support store. If he had been hacked there could be genuine danger in this app. His finger was hovering over the power button again, prepared to shut it down, and yet…

JunpeiTenmyouji [JT] opened a memo 

[JT]: Who is this?  


There's no immediate response. With a low groan, Junpei drops the phone back onto his bag, rolling his shoulders and stretching out his back. His arm was starting to eat most of his concentration, and with a final glare he turned away from his bag, choosing to instead give himself some peace. Back he went into the bathroom, resolving to remain there even if his phone started to scream. For a minute, the only thing he heard was the sound of his own breathing and running water, ears still reluctantly listening for the sound of activity.

Instead of relief, though, the silence made him more tense. If whoever it was on the other end of that message hadn’t wanted to contact him, what did they want? It was a nagging, worrying question that only seemed to get louder as he stood there.

What did they want?

Too soon, he found himself stepping away from the water, as his burning curiosity outgrew his burning pain. He was starting to get annoyed by the back and forth between the two rooms, so he did what he should have initially and plucked the phone from his bag, carrying it back to the sink.

The account, his account, apparently, was still open, the red text still alone on the screen. Carefully he switched the device to his left hand, typing slowly with his fingers as he dipped his right back beneath the water, hopefully for the last time.

[JT]: What do you want?  


With his eyes locked on the screen, it didn't take long for him to notice one of the names on the side light up. JuneRain, in a bright green. After a second, his phone buzzed, a small cloud icon appearing next to the username. Slowly he tapped the name again, and this time it opened a separate window.

JuneRain [JR] began pestering  JunpeiTenmyouji [JT]

[JR]: Jumpy?  


His eyes widened in surprise.

[JT]: Akane?  
[JR]: Junpei! It’s been so long!   
[JT]: How are you messaging me?  


It didn't make any sense, it couldn't be her, and yet...

[JR]: Well… I'm not really sure?  
[JR]: I woke up and there was this app on my phone.   
[JT]: And you didn’t question it? You didn't think something was up?  
[JR]: I mean   
[JR]: Of course I was worried about it!   
[JR]: I didn’t even open it until I saw your message!   
[JT]: What are you talking about?  


This was all getting to strange for his liking. With a glance at his burn, he turned off the tap, before rummaging around the bathroom looking for some bandages. He could hear his phone going off as he searched, and quickly decided to put that problem off for a little bit. His medicine cabinet was sorely lacking in anything useful, no burn creams or antibiotics, but he managed to find a small, half used roll of gauze. Gingerly he wrapped the burn, wincing as he felt it agitate the skin. He was… he was pretty sure you were supposed to wrap burns, though as he applied the bandage he felt less confident in that decision. Still, at that point it would have hurt worse to remove it, so he committed to his choice.

Once his admittedly amature first aid was done, he turned his attention back to the phone. Akane, if it really was her, had sent him a few messages. 

[JR]: Your message?  
[JR]: Or, memo, I guess.  
[JR]: When you sent it, my phone went off.  
[JR]: I didn’t really want to open it before, but when I saw it was you who had sent it, I couldn’t help myself.  
[JR]: I made sure to give myself a nickname, though.  
[JT]: ...Nickname?  


Junpei sighed, glancing out the window.

[JR]: I didn’t want to use my name if it wasn’t really you.  


He grimaced at that, looking over the app again. He didn’t see a way to input a nickname. He almost sent a message asking her- them, how to do it, before he felt common sense kick in.

[JT]: How do I know you’re really Akane?  


As he sent that, he turned his gaze to the flannel on the floor, bending down to pick it back up. He slid it back on after a second of thought- even if there was a stain on the arm, it was still mostly clean, and better then being half-naked. There were a few seconds of silence after he slid the shirt on, but while he fumbled with the buttons he heard a response.

[JR]: I gave myself the same name as the doll.  


He frowned, looking at the message. It wasn't something anyone else should know; he hadn’t spoken to anyone else about it, there were no records of that conversation online, and no matter how long he thought about it, there was no way anyone other then Akane should know about it.

[JT]: Ok.   
[JT]: Ok, yeah, you’re her.   
[JT]: But, still...  


Part of him was happy to speak to her again, and honestly, that part was pretty fucking big. He always wondered what had happened to her after that summer, and just knowing she was fine was a weight off his chest.

[JT]: Are you sure you don’t know where this app came from?  


She didn’t reply for a while, and Junpei slowly made his way back out into the living room to collect the rest of his discarded clothing, tucking them under one arm as he kept an eye on the screen. He could see a typing indicator appear every few seconds, and then vanish, so he knew she was on the other end. He tossed the windbreaker and hoodie into his room carelessly, before going back and picking up his bag. He had homework to do, an assignment on cryptocurrency that was going to take several hours, and after gazing into the white abyss of scrawled notes, he threw the bag into his room as well, with perhaps a bit more force then strictly necessary. With his whirlwind tidying complete, he entered his room, sprawling out on his bed, holding the phone aloft above his face.

Kanny had been typing for a while, but when she finally sent her message it was pretty short. Short, but unhelpful.

[JR]: Do you know anything about Skaianet?  
[JT]: The tech company?  
[JR]: Yeah, that one.  


He waited for a second but she didn't continue.

[JT]: Don’t they just make computers?  
[JR]: No, they do way more than that  
[JR]: They do all kinds of research, into everything from cloning to video games.   
[JR]: There are a lot of sketchy projects with their name on it out there, and no one seems to know where they get their funding.  
[JR]: On top of that, there's no records of the company existing from earlier then 30 years ago; nothing on it's founders, nothing about it's climb to success, nothing!  
[JR]: It's almost like it sprung up fully formed.  
[JT]:That's… interesting and all, Kanny, but what does it have to do with the app?   
[JR]: Well   
[JR]: I guess it’s hard to put into text.  
[JT]: Do you know something?  
[JR]: Give me a second to get my head on straight   


He sighed again. Akane was typing something in the chat, but he clicked off the log, taking another look at the app itself. A splash of colour was quick to catch his attention, a bright pink. CloverField was lit up now, next to Akane’s username. For a second he debated sending them a message, before deciding against it. If he knew them, he didn’t recognise the name. If they knew him…

The memo he had opened was still accessible from the home-screen, and he could clearly see his name written in dark red. In all the commotion it slipped his mind, but that was his name written on the screen. Whoever created this app, whoever downloaded it onto his phone, knew who he was. The implications of that were… unpleasant, especially if they had also given it to Akane. Whoever it was knew they had known each other, unless it was just a coincidence? 

No, no, Junpei couldn’t believe that.

There was no way this could be a coincidence. There were only five people with this app, assuming all of those usernames were connected to someone, so it was impossible for this to be purely random chance. Someone had to have selected him and Akane both for something. Ultimately, it boiled down to what.

Almost as though it were on cue, his phone buzzed. He quickly popped open his log with Akane without a second thought, but she hadn’t sent a new message there. In fact, he couldn’t see her typing bubble at all anymore. He blinked at the screen, before rolling onto his side and pulling it closer to his face. The afternoon sun was streaming into his room from an open window, and as he looked down at strings of text, he could feel himself start to perspire. His room was feeling unusually warm. He brushed his dampening hair off his forehead, and his hand came back moist.

If she hadn’t messaged him, then…

He slid their log back, and sure enough, he saw that same cloud icon hovering over the memo he had accidentally opened earlier. She had sent her message there, not an answer of any kind, but another question. 

JuneRain [JR] joined a memo 

[JT]: What do you want? (4:59)  
[JR]: Have any of you heard of Sburb?  



End file.
